well, the members of session 4 have departed and gone their separate ways.  some have returned home, while others have continued on in Japan, China, Palau, …

i arrived back in California yesterday.  

tired, sad, worn, spent.  

buzzing, content, renewed, enriched.

tomorrow i will visit my parents and try to recount all that has happened in the past 2 weeks.  i’m sure many details have slipped from my mind, but the experience will never fade away.

thank you Beau for opening True Sake in SF and giving me access to sake, your knowledge and the connection to the Mukune International Sake Brewing Program.

thank you Daimon-san for opening your door, mind and heart to sake enthusiasts from around the world and allowing me to be part of it.

six strangers enter

water, rice, yeast, passion, work

team mukune, son

yesterday was our last day working as kurabitos at Daimon Shuzo. we steamed rice in the morning, loaded the third addition (tome) of rice and koji into the moromi, cracked our final batch of koji for the “Ferrari”, scraped some more kasu from the Yabuta, put labels on boxes and then cleaned up the kura one last time.

in the late afternoon, it seemed that everyone needed to find a bit of “self time” before the farewell party. i think all of us were a bit sad that our stay here was coming to an end and we all were in an introspective and reflective mood. i put my headphones on and listened to some music as i watched trains go by, school kids and cars parade past the kura, kids playing baseball across the field and some of the few clouds we’ve had this week roll through the sky.

at 6pm we all met in the room that has been our “command center” for the past week. an amazing spread of food was brought in, many of the dishes featuring bamboo root that may have been picked from the grove just behind the kura. before eating though, we all took turns sharing our thoughts about the experience of working at Daimon Shuzo. i sort of knew what most of my fellow gaijin kurabito felt as we had spent each night hanging out and talking with each other about anything and everything, but it was great to hear what Uei-san, Arai-san, and Daimon-san and his family felt.  they all had the sense of amazement and happiness that we did and i think that made us all feel extremely relieved, happy and maybe even a bit proud.

i can’t say i was expecting to have an epiphany during my stay here, and i’m not sure that i did (or have had it yet), but it was definitely one of the best experiences i’ve had in my life. the fact that Daimon-san allowed this program to take place in his kura, knowing that all sorts of things could go wrong, that he was letting (for the most part) random people from around the world into his business, that his kurabito were going to have their extremely efficient work flow altered, that other kura owners and tojis might think he was crazy, … Amazing.

and despite all the ways that things could have gone wrong, nothing did! was it blind luck or good karma that made this work so well? maybe. i think i’m going to give credit to what brought all of us here in the first place though and that is this fabulous concoction made from rice, water, yeast, a lot of hard work, passion and artistry: SAKE

Daimon-san maps out the day

yesterday was the day where the whole process started making much more sense to me than it did from just reading about making sake .  we did everything from starting a new batch of moto to adding the first rice (soe) to scraping the kasu off of the filters in the press.  in between these steps, we were also spreading out the rice that would later have koji mold sprinkled onto it.

one thing i realized from actually doing the steps is that my thoughts of making sake at home may need to be rethought.  my apartment doesn’t have nearly enough space for the type of setup i think i’d need.  this might be a good thing for my friends though, as now they won’t have to worry about going blind from drinking whatever ”sake” i tried to produce.

Itadakimasu!

as with the day before, the work day was followed up by some “cultural” activities – hitting up a nearby izakaya for some oishii food and getting our drink on.  sashimi, chicken katsu, beef tataki, tempura, marinated fish, etc arrived to the table and were quickly devoured and washed down with beer and sake.  Daimon-san continued to test our senses with each sake offerring.  “How old? Which grade? Polishing amount? Alcohol added?”  Having never gone through a class on tasting sake, these ”tests” have been difficult for me but i feel like i’m starting to get a bit better at it.

Daimon-san sings!

after getting stuffed and heated, we dove straight into another japanese cultural experience: singing karaoke.  “Born to Run”, “Creep”, “Achy Breaky Heart”, “What A Wonderful World”, “Baby Got Back” and more were sung with…well, if not the most dulcid of tones, at least a lot of fervor.  in between songs we were also treated to some karate action by a 70 year old karate instructor.  there was a brief moment when it looked like there might be a Tiger vs Crane showdown, but luckily cooler heads prevailed.  ; )

the evening wrapped up the way most of my favorite nights in japan have:  at the convenience store buying some instant ramen and beer for a midnite snack. 

such a good day!

Today has been full of new experiences at Mukune kura.  Daimon-san walked us through the various sections of the kura, explaining what steps take place in each area.  We then met his group of kurabito and soon were busy helping wash rice that will be used for the first (soe) and second (naka) addition and for the koji.

After completing the rice washing, we then embarked on a different lesson in Japan: picking fresh takenoko!  Just a short hike from the kura, we were in a bamboo grove and takenoko were being pointed out to us.  Some quick shovel work later and we had fresh takenoko for the Mukune restaurant.

Our hike continued further on and we were in the cemetary of Daimon-san’s ancestors.  As he poured water on the gravestones, he explained some of the history of the area and the people here.  The connection between the region, the people and their product was quite evident.

Our hike ended with a trip to the village shrine.  Which again, tied in all of the elements that make up the tradition and the craft of sake brewing.  While there is clearly a “process” involved in making sake, there is much more than that involved (and at stake).   And that personal and communal aspect is readily tangible.